“What Ed had done has been absolutely remarkable,” Haden said on USC’s weekly radio show. “He is clearly in our eyesight. We understand. It’s not just the fans. We’re sophisticated enough and know enough about this to understand the attributes that he has and he’s a known quantity.”

But Haden’s support was quickly tempered with a follow-up comment that seemed to explain to USC fans why he might hire someone else as the Trojans’ coach.

“My job is to find the best coach of USC, not just for this year, for five, six or eight games or next year, but hopefully for five, 10 or 15 years,” he said. “So we’re going to go through this process we have and at the end of the day, I think we’ll have a rational decision.

“And I completely understand that people are going to disagree with the decision I make, no matter who it is, right? So we’re going to get that. I’m fully prepared for that.”

Haden’s comments were timely because USC’s coaching search took a life of its own this week. The Trojans’ upset of Stanford catapulted Orgeron to frontrunner status ... if the fans decided who would coach the team.

Former USC coach Lane Kiffin endorsed Orgeron during an interview on 710-AM on Thursday: “That’s easy. That’s already done. It should be Ed Orgeron. The players love him. The assistant coaches love him. How could you possibly think about somebody else?”

To be fair, Haden said Orgeron would be considered for the job from the beginning of the coaching search. But who could predict that Orgeron would be nominated by the Maxwell Club for its college football coach of the year award alongside legends like Alabama coach Nick Saban and Ohio State’s Urban Meyer?

This is not a normal coaching search because a coach usually gets fired at the end of the season. But when Kiffin got fired five games into the season, it gave Orgeron an audition. He went from being a failure at Ole Miss to being the flavor of the month at USC.

And things are fluid enough that the next week could see his stock rise higher or take a hit depending on the outcome of the Nov. 30 game versus UCLA.

The decision is solely up to Haden. USC president Max Nikias told a group of students Wednesday night that he would let Haden choose the coach and would not interfere. That is significant because Nikias is a huge football fan who attends every game.

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He would be consulted by Haden but expected to approve whoever the athletic director recommended for the job. Nikias is not detached like former president Steven Sample, who rubberstamped the hiring of Kiffin in 2010.

The challenge for Haden is he must combat the pro-Orgeron crowd and try to contact college coaches in December while hiring someone as quickly as possible because of recruiting concerns. Haden interviewed Denver Broncos interim coach Jack Del Rio a few weeks ago.

But that does not mean Del Rio is the frontunner. The Broncos had a bye and gave Haden permission to speak to Del Rio. Haden cannot exactly fly to College Station, Texas, and interview Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin right now. He would never get permission during the season. Same with Boise State’s Chris Petersen.

He might be able to gauge their interest, but a full interview would need to take place after the season. USC has already reached out to ESPN analyst Jon Gruden, but he’s easy to speak to because he does not have a coaching job.

At USC, the boosters always get mentioned as a potential issue for a coaching hire. At least one significant donor strongly supports Orgeron getting hired, but his influence with Haden is not strong. It is not clear any donors would influence Haden’s opinion.

One of USC’s biggest athletic donors, Wayne Hughes, the owner of Public Storage, expressed support for Tim Floyd getting rehired as basketball coach when Kevin O’Neill was fired. Haden gave Floyd an interview, but it was seen more as a chance to let Floyd rehabilitate his image after USC was placed on probation for violations that occurred when he was the coach.

The stakes are much higher for football obviously. And the fans rushing the field might in some way make Orgeron more powerful than if he were supported by all the donors.

Kiffin said Thursday if Orgeron is not hired as head coach, he cannot remain at USC.